Tibet is a high, mountainous land. On the south it is bounded by the greatest peaks in the world, the Himalayas, stretching for thousands of kilometers from east to west. To the north of this, supreme example of nature’s grandeur is a high plateau, at an altitude of mostly 4000 m or more, extending northwards for many hundreds of kilometers until it drops off into mainland China. Many of the valleys are green and lush in summer, but white and barren in winter. Truly a high altitude desert, it impresses on the mind just how insignificant we human beings are comparison with the massive forces of nature. The two lakes of Mansarovar and Rakhas Tal are flashes of blue and green on an otherwise colorless canvas.
Tibet is another world, beyond the wildest dreams of most people who have not had the chance to experience its exquisite and excruciating grandeur. From baking hot sunshine during the day, temperatures can drop to -40 degree centigrade at night or even lower, chilling the spirit as well as the bone. But then the next morning a clear blue sky dispels all bad feelings; the sun warms the spirit as well as the body.
Mid day temperatures in the summer sun can be warm enough for a tee-shirt, though in the shade the temperatures are much lower. Even in winter the power of the sun is deceptively strong and liable to burn delicate human skin. As well as its intense cold, Tibet is also extremely dry, and its freezing dry air will parch the skin of anyone who goes out in it unprotected.
Because of its extremely harsh climate, very little food grows in Tibet, and most has to be imported from the rest of China. For much of the year, road access to Tibet is cut off by snow and the only access is by air from Chengdu, in a dramatic flight over some of the most beautiful mountains on earth. Those on the left side of the aircraft may be lucky to glimpse the remote mountain of Namche Barwa, where the Tsangpo drops into uncharted gorges before emerging as the Brahmaputra in India and Bangladesh.
